Check-receiving apparatus.



R. H. BURTON.

CHECK RECEIVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20, 1913.

Patented Mar. 31, 191 1 UNTTED STAEg PAT FIG E.

RALPH H. BURTON, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHECK-RECEIVING- APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RALPH I-I. BURTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of lvfassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Check-Receiving Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in check controlled machines, and more particularly to devices which are disposed at the entrance of the check-receiving passage which will prevent the insertion of a check of different size from that which is intended shall be inserted.

In food vending machines, where the articles of food are arranged in compartments to which access is secured by inserting a coin of the proper denomination, it is desirable, at different times, to use the same compartments for articles of food of different prices, but, so far as I am aware, in prior devices of this character it has been necessary to vend only articles of the same price in a particular set of compartments.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective device adapted to be arranged at the coin slot entrance of a coincontrolled machine, which will prevent the insertion of a coin of a difierent size than that which it is intended to receive, and the parts of which are adapted to be adjusted to receive coins of varying sizes. I accomplish this object by means shown in the acconr panying drawing, in which,

Figure l is a side elevation of the checkpassage entrance of a check controlled apparatus, provided with my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are views similar to Fig. 1 showing the parts in different positions.

In the drawing a indicates the frame of the machine, having a coin entrance slot a therein, which opens into a passageway a down which the coin may pass, to operate the machine.

According to my invention I provide an operating lever i), which is mounted on a bracket (Z, by a pivot a, secured to the frame of the machine. One end of the lever Z) is provided with a depending, coin-engaging portion 5, which has a V-shaped slot 6 in its lower end, arranged in exact aline ment with, and adapted to depend into the coin passage.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 20, 1913.

Patented Mar. 31, 1914. Serial No. 755,654.

A coin-intercepting device, in the form of a lever 6, 1s mounted on a pivot f on the frame of the machine, said lever being arranged to swing in the coin passage in the same vertical plane as the lever b. The front end of said lever 0 extends forwardly pgirtly across the coin passage, and beneath the middle thereof, and beneath the dependmg portion 6 of the lever b, and is provided with beveled faces 6, and c on its upper and under sides, respectively, at its extreme front end, said bevel faces meeting in a slightly blunted edge. An abutment screw 9 is threaded in the rear end of the lever b and is arranged to bear on the rear end of the lever e, a lock nut it being provided on said screw for holding it in its positions of adjustment. The bracket (Z is provided with a horizontally extending portion (l at its upper end and a stop screw e, having a lock-nut j thereon, is threaded therein. The lever e is provided with a projecting lug is which is arranged in position to be engaged by the lower end of the screw 2', to limit the upward swinging movement of said lever.

A spring m is connected by a pin 91 to the frame, and one end of said spring engages said frame in front of said pin n. and the other end thereof engages the under side of the lever e, in rear of its pivot f, and acts normally to hold the rear end of the lever e in engagement with the end of the stop-screw g, and the under side of the front end of said lever, in engagement with a stoppin p. A friction roll 0 is preferably provided at the lower end of the coin entrance slot a, the axis of said roll being arranged adjacent a perpendicular line from the front end of the groove 6 in the lever Z).

The operation is as follows :-The parts are normally held in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and when a coin is inserted in the slot a, the lower edge thereof will engage the lower end of the slot and rest on the roll 0. As the coin is pushed in, its upper portion will enter the groove 6 of the lever b, and engage the bottom thereof, and cause the front end of the lever b to be raised. This movement of the lever 6 causes its rear end to swing downwardly, and, likewise, causes the lever c to be swung so that its frontend is raised, and, if the parts are properly adjusted, the edge between the faces a and 0 will be carried slightly above the center of the coin as it rests on the roll 0. As the coin is pushed in still farther the lever 6 will be swung upwardly to a still higher point, by the lifting of the front end of lever I), this movement being assisted by the direct engagement of the coin with the under face 6 and will continue until the lug 70 engages the set screw 2', as shown in Fig. 4, in which position, if the parts are properly adjusted to receive the particular coin which is inserted, the distance between the under side of the lever e, at its front end, and the roll will just equal the diameter of the coin, so that the coin will be permitted to pass on into the coin passage. The stop screw will be so adjusted that upward swinging movement of the lever 6 will not be permitted beyond a point at which the distance from the roll 0 to the lever a would be greater than the diameter of the coin, so that, if it is attempted to insert a coin of slightly larger diameter than that which the machine is adjusted to receive, entrance of the coin beyond this point will be prevented. For example, if the machine is set to receive a dime and one should attempt to insert a cent, which is of slightly larger diameter than a dime, the lever 6 might be raised slightly above the center of the coin approximately, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that further upward movement of the lever 6 might be caused by pushing in the coin, but the up ward movement of the lever 6 would be arrested, by the stop-screw 71, before the coin could be pushed past said lever, and the forcing of the coin into the coin-passage would thus be prevented. If, on the other hand, the coin which it is attempted to insert is appreciably smaller than that for which the parts are adjusted, so that the edge between the faces 6, 6 is not raised above the center of the coin, then the coin would merely be pushed against the face 6 of lever e and the entrance of the coin be yond this point would be prevented, as shown in Fig. 5.

The above described device may be adjusted for coins of varying size as from a 25 to a 10 piece, by merely adjusting the stop screws 9 and 2'. That is, for a coin of larger diameter the screw 9. will be screwed up, so that the front ends of the lever b will be swung up to a corresponding extent. If, on the contrary, a smaller coin is to be inserted the screw 9 will be turned down still farther, as indicated in Fig. 6, so that the distance which the lever 6 will be raised from its initial position will be diminished. In each instance the screw 2' will be adjusted so that the lever 6 cannot be swung above the point at which it .will permit the particular coin which is to be received, to pass.

I claim 1. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, an intercepting device and an actuating device arranged normally to extend into said passage, an engaging-device interposed between said actuating and said intercepting devices and arranged to move said intercepting device out of intercepting position upon predetermined movement of said actuating device, and means permitting adjustment of said engaging device to vary the extent of movement of said intercepting device by said actuating device.

:2. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, an intercepting device comprising a pivotally mounted arm having its end portion normally extended into said passage to prevent the passage of a coin therethrough, a pivotally mounted operating arm having its end portion normally extending into said passage in advance of said intercepting arm and arranged to be swung aside upon the insertion of a coin, engaging means interposed between said arms and disposed to be actuated by said operating arm, when moved aside, to swing said intercepting arm out of intercepting position, and means permitting adjustment of said engaging means to vary the range of movement of said intercepting device according to the size of a predetermined coin.

3. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, an intercepting device comprising a pivotally mounted arm having its end portion normally extended into said passage to prevent the passage of a coin therethrough, a pivotally mounted operating arm having its end portion normally extending into said passage in advance of said intercepting arm and arranged to be swung aside upon the insertion of a coin, engaging means interposed between said arms and disposed to be actuated by said operating arm, when moved aside, to swing said intercepting arm out of intercepting position, means permitting adjustment of said engaging means to vary the range of movement of said intercepting device according to the size of a predetermined coin and a stop arranged to engage one of said arms to limit the extent to which it may be moved aside and to restrict the width of the coin-passage.

4. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, an intercepting device comprising a pivotally mounted arm having its end portion normally extended into said passage, to prevent the passage of a coin therethrough, a pivotally mounted operating arm having its end portion normally extending into said passage in advance of said intercepting arm and arranged to be swung aside upon the insertion of a coin, and adjustable engaging means interposed between said arms and disposed to be actuated by said operating arm, when moved aside, to swing said intercepting arm out of intercepting position, and a stop arranged to engage one of said arms to limit the extent to which it may be moved aside and to restrict the width of the coin-passage, and means permitting adjustment or said stop according to the diameter of the coin to prevent the passage of a coin of greater diameter.

5. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, a pair of levers, one comprisin g an intercepting arm normally disposed in said passage in position to prevent the passage of a coin therethrough and an operating arm, and the other comprising an engaging arm, normally held in position to be pushed aside by a coin when inserted in sald passage, an actuating arm, means carried by said actuating arm disposed to engage said operating arm to move said interceptin arm to a predetermined extent when said engaging arm is moved by the coin to an extent corresponding to the size thereof, and means to vary the extent of actuation of said intercepting arm by said actuating arm.

6. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, a pair of levers arranged to swing one over the other, each comprising two arms, one arm of one lever being normally disposed in position to be actuated by a coin, as it is inserted in said passage to an extent corresponding to the size of the coin, and one arm of the other lever being normally disposed to intercept the coin as it passes the arm first engaged, the other arms of said levers having interposed engaging means, so that, when the first named lever is actuated to a predetermined extent, accordiug to the size of coin, the other lever will be actuated to a corresponding extent, whereby coins of predetermined size will be permitted to pass through said passage and those of a difl'erent size will be intercepted.

7. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, a lever having a coin-engaging arm arranged to be held in said passage at one side of the entrance thereto and in position to be engaged and swung upwardly to a predetermined extent by a coin when forced between it and the side of the passage, a second lever having an intercepting arm arranged to extend across said passage, with its end normally held below the middle of the path of the coin through said passage and in position to intercept the coin as it passes said engaging arm, and engaging means interposed between said arms and arranged to cause said intercepting arm to be raised above the middle of the path of the coin by said engagingarm when raised to said predetermined extent.

8. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, a pair of levers pivotally mounted at an intermediate point, one above the other, means normally to hold one arm of one leverin position to be engaged and swung aside by a coin, as it is inserted in said passage and to hold one arm of the other lever in position to intercept a coin in said passage, when it passes beyond said arm, the opposite arms of said levers having interposed engaging means to cause the coin-intercepting arm to be swung out of intercepting position upon predetermined movement of the coin-engaged arm, and means permitting adjustment of said engaging means to vary the relative positions of said arms when in engagement.

9. In a coin-receiving apparatus having a coin-passage, a coin-engaging and a coinintercepting lever, each pivoted at an intermediate point to swing in approximately the same plane and having the arms in front of their pivots adapted to extend into said passage, interposed engaging means between the arms in the rear of said pivots having a spring for holding said means in engagement, normally to hold the opposite arms respectively in coin-engaging and coin-intercepting positions and to cause said coin-engaging lever to move said intercepting lever out of intercepting position when actuated by a coin of predetermined size, and means permitting adjustment of said engaging means to vary the relative positions of said levers when in engagement.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of 7 two subscribing witnesses.

RALPH H. BURTON. Witnesses:

L. H. HARRIMAN, H. B. DAVIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G." 

